Gaia's Children
by Retse
Summary: HPFF7 xover He'd defeated Voldemort and brought peace to the wizarding world. He'd also died a martyr. Thousands of years later, a Doctor intent on surpassing Hojo resurrects him. Harry's not happy but soon finds out he was brought back for a reason SLASH
1. Prologue

**Gaia's Children**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or Final Fantasy VII. These belong to J.K. Rowling and Square Enix respectively.

**Harry Potter/Final Fantasy VII Crossover**

**Warnings...** this fanfic contains **SLASH** and unbetadness...

**Pairings:** Cloud/Harry and other pairings I'm uncertain of at the moment (but most likely Vincent/Aeris... don't ask...)

**Summary:** Harry Potter had won. He had defeated Voldemort and brought peace to the wizarding world. He had also died a martyr. Thousands of years later, a Doctor intent on surpassing Hojo resurrects him. Harry's not happy but soon finds out he was brought back by more than just the whims of a quack scientist...

**A.N.:** yep, another story -sigh- but really I couldn't help it. One of my reviewers gave me this idea of writing this crossover so I can get rid of my urge to write the Cloud/Harry in my KH fic (thanks lildevil425!) hopefully it'll work... but not too well lol... btw, don't know often I'd attempt to write this, probably not often cause this is the first story where I thought of what crossover I wanted to write and then figured out the plot and not the other way around... so yeah... I don't have a proper plot lol... enjoy anyway:D

* * *

**Prologue.**

_The Second War had waged on for nigh ten years, neither Light nor Dark willing to concede defeat despite grievous losses on both sides. On the eve of his parent's deaths, Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, lead the remaining forces of the Light in the final and conclusive battle of the war against Voldemort. It was bloody, as all had expected it to be, but it was also the end. Harry Potter had won, bringing to the world a peace that had not been seen for years and that would last for many years to come as none wished a repeat of the devastation that was the Second War. Harry Potter had also died a martyr._

_The Harry Potter memorial, built in his honour and fashioned as his last resting place, was erected on the grounds of his home, near the ruins of the once impenetrable Hogwarts. There his remains, carefully preserved, were left to rest until the end of time._

_Unfortunately for Harry, it wasn't so..._

5000 years later – North Corel Region

"_Doctor! Doctor!" one of his apprentices rushed into the tent, "We've found it!"_

_The Doctor immediately sprang to his feet, eyes blazing with his eagerness, "Well then what are you waiting me? Take me to it!"_

"_Yes, Sir!" the apprentice scurried out of the tent, the Doctor hot on his heels as they hurried to the site as fast as they could without seeming unprofessional._

_The Doctor gleefully examined the ancient grave they had unearthed. According to his research, this was the final resting place for the powerful War Mage that ended the Great War of the old legends. Of course, now it was no longer a legend. Now he had proof that the Great War had occurred._

_On the verge of joyful tears, he slowly ran his fingers across the inscriptions that lined the age old door that guarded the warrior disturbances to his rest, the ancient power sending a tingling feeling through his fingers. The protections... they were strong but they were also old and weary, the magic that once fed into them having joined the Lifestream a long time ago._

"_Open it!"_

_Hojo may have his Sephiroth and his Cetra genes to gain favour among the higher ups but soon he'll have something so much better..._

_-_

"_Doctor! Doctor!" his apprentice burst through his office door, paying no heed to the secretary's disgruntled expression._

_The Doctor scowled, "This better be important or-"_

"_The experiment's overloading the equipment! We don't know how much longer we can hold it!"_

"_What!" the Doctor cried out, pushing the apprentice aside as he ran out of the room._

_As soon as they reached the main lab, an explosion shook the entire complex, almost bringing them to their knees. The Doctor hurried forward to push the door open only to be flung back and straight into his apprentice. The two stared up wide-eyed as a familiar raven-haired individual strode out from within. His skin was pale and his stature small but strength seemed to seep out of the very body that seemed so weak, his glowing dark emerald eyes immediately locking on to them._

_The two tried to stand, tried to scramble away but found they couldn't, found they could only wait for the judgement the man would bring._

"_Why did you bring me back?" his voice was soft yet it seemed to echo throughout the corridor._

_The Doctor swallowed convulsively as he frantically tried to think of reason that would not offend the man. He opened his mouth to speak but found no answer to give. He had done it purely for fame and fortune and the man before him knew it. There was no mercy in his eyes._

_And the nameless Doctor, just moments before the complex exploded with the force of an Ultima taking with it him and anyone else within the building, could only wonder why he had placed fame and fortune before his own life._

_-_

_Aeris Gainsborough looked up from where she was tending her flowers and listened._

_The planet was calling out to her. It was in pain, she could feel it in her own bones and yet this time, it wasn't calling out because of its own pain. It called out to her to ease the pain of another._

_Quickly she stood, brushing off the dirt on her dress before hurrying out of the church. Every so often, she would place her head against the earth and just listen... listening to where Gaia wished for her to go. Moments later, the call reached it peak – Gaia cried for her child. The child that was in pain. Aeris rushed forward, kneeling beside the still figure of a young raven-haired boy barely older than herself. Silently, she reached for the magic within her materia, drawing it out as she began to heal the boy to the best of her ability._

_When she did all that she could and the young boy still had no woken, she gently lifted him up, grateful that he was smaller than her, and started the trek back home._

_Hopefully, her mum wouldn't mind her bringing a boy back to live with them..._

_-_

Harry silently sliced through the Deenglow, a rain of gil dropping to the ground as it disappeared into nothing. Seeing no more enemies in the vicinity, he quickly gathered up the gil and stuffed them in his pouch.

Satisfied with the amount he had collected for the day, he started back to the church. He'd been away from Aeris for too long in his opinion – who knew when those Shinra idiots decided to come and try to capture her again? However, despite his protests, Aeris had insisted she'd be fine and that he should get out more often. Plus, the extra gil made life a little easier for Mrs. Gainsborough when she went out to buy food. He couldn't disagree with that.

Gracefully, he jumped off the top of the old train carriage, landing soundlessly on his feet and exited the train graveyard. The station was empty as expected when there wasn't a train in sight. He rolled his eyes when he realised one of the street lights still hadn't been replaced; it'd been flickering for several months now. But he supposed he shouldn't be surprised; Shinra cared little for those who lived in the slums and its residents would not spare their hard-earned gil on such a thing.

Harry froze.

The station wasn't as empty as he had thought it was for there, lying just metres away, was a still body. Instincts kicked in and he was already kneeling by, from what he could see, the man's side. Drawing on his innate magic to channel through his fingers, he set about healing any injuries, beads of sweat dripping down the side of his head when he finished. The man's injuries were quite extensive... what in world had happened to him?

A soft groan brought him out of his thoughts. As gently as he could, he pulled the man towards him, "Hello?" he called out tentatively, "How do you feel?"

Suddenly the man's eyes snapped open and Harry could only wonder how anyone could have such brilliant blue eyes...

* * *


	2. Chapter 1

**Gaia's Children**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or Final Fantasy VII. These belong to J.K. Rowling and Square Enix respectively.

**Harry Potter/Final Fantasy VII Crossover**

**Warnings...** this fanfic contains **SLASH** and unbetadness...

**Pairings:** Cloud/Harry and other pairings I'm uncertain of at the moment (but most likely Vincent/Aeris... don't ask...)

**Summary:** Harry Potter had won. He had defeated Voldemort and brought peace to the wizarding world. He had also died a martyr. Thousands of years later, a Doctor intent on surpassing Hojo resurrects him. Harry's not happy but soon finds out he was brought back by more than just the whims of a quack scientist...

**A.N.:** Thanks to all that reviewed :D and as you can see, I present to you (finally!) the second chapter of Gaia's Children! Hopefully, I haven't disappointed you guys. I **was** going to insert some random cute scenes of bonding between Harry and Cloud but I really couldn't think of anything (it's not close enough to the exam period yet lol)... so let's just say they're there and we are all happy ;) (well, okay, most likely no one will be happy but what can I do? :P) And if I come up with anything, I'll be sure to inform you guys and add it in here...

Hmm... just realised that this fic will probably be quite short too and I might actually be able to finish it for once... Would be a nice change, ne?

* * *

**Chapter 1.**

_A soft groan brought him out of his thoughts. As gently as he could, he pulled the man towards him, "Hello?" he called out tentatively, "How do you feel?"_

_Suddenly the man's eyes snapped open and Harry could only wonder how anyone could have such brilliant blue eyes..._

"W-who...?" the blond suddenly whispered, breaking into Harry's thoughts.

The emerald-eyed teen flushed if only for a second as he back-tracked over his last thought but quickly composed himself, "Er... I'm Harry," he replied, looking down at the blond at little worriedly; he'd managed to heal all the physical wounds but... "Do you remember who you are?"

Blue eyes blinked and stared back at him, "I... I'm..."

Harry frowned when blue eyes became hazy and unfocused. Emerald eyes then widened in horror when the blond started to shake uncontrollably.

"H-hey!" Harry called out in shock at the sudden change, "What's wrong?"

The blond only groaned in response, eyes unseeing as they stared out into the sky. Suddenly, Harry realised exactly what he had to do and grimaced. As gently as he could, he grasped the sides of the blond's head with his hands and stared deeply into his eyes.

_Legilimens._

As soon as he entered, Harry felt like as if he was right in the middle of a raging storm. Random thoughts and memories were thrown at him, the blonde having lost total control of his own mind. Harry steeled himself before he threw himself into systematically reorganising his mind. He grabbed whatever came flying at him, nailing them down back into place and little by little the storm calmed.

Harry flinched, barely keeping from losing his grip when a particularly bad memory hit him. Horror rose up inside him, unable to look away as he watched a silver-haired man set people and the whole town on fire, their screams of pain reverberating in his own mind.

_Sephiroth._

Harry's own pain echoed with the blonde's as he watched the silver-haired man cut down a dark-haired man. His role-model and only friend.

_Zack._

Bile rose up in his throat as Harry watched the blonde suffer over and over again under the machinations of a mad man. A scientist willing to go to any measures to get one step closer to his darkest desire.

_Hojo._

And then there was nothing.

Emerald-eyes blinked tiredly as he stepped into the deepest recesses of the mind. Wisps of blue smoke wafted around him and around the flickering mirrors that circled around him.

And in the centre of it all was one small blonde boy.

"It's quiet now," the boy said as he stared at Harry curiously with his bright blue eyes.

Harry nodded uncertainly, watching the boy carefully as he moved towards him.

"But he still isn't okay," the boy continued, gaze unwavering, "You'll help him though, right?" he said, voice tinged with hope.

"Him?" Harry echoed.

"Him. Me. Us," the boy shrugged unconcerned, "So will you?"

Harry nodded, "I'll do my best."

The boy grinned happily at him, his small hand reaching out to take Harry's, "Great! By the way, I'm Cloud Strife. Who are you?"

Harry tightened his grip around the small hand and smiled softly down back at him, "Harry Potter."

-

Insert cute and fluffy scenes of Harry/Cloud!Bonding here... :P

-

Cloud silently watched Harry tend to the flowers as he sat leaning against the cold, stone wall, the Buster sword innocently laid beside him. It'd been months since Harry had first found him, his memories still fuzzy on the exact specifics of what had happened to him. But one thing was absolutely clear to him; he was completely indebted to the young dark-haired man.

Like Harry did for Aeris, Cloud had taken to protecting the older teen to the best of his abilities. Not that he really needed it; Harry was far stronger than his appearance let on. That didn't change the fact he felt the inexplicable need to shadow the teen in his every move, afraid if he looked away for just a moment, Harry would disappear and never return.

Emerald eyes raised, lips turning up in a reassuring smile as he brushed his long fringe aside with the back of his hand. Cloud smiled back softly; it was amazing how the raven-haired teen always seemed to know what he was thinking and was so quick to quell his fears...

"And how are my two favourite people doing today?" a bright voice chirped from the church entrance.

Harry looked up at her in half-amusement, half-exasperation, "As well as we were half an hour ago when you first came, Aeris."

Aeries mock-pouted at him, "Just checking. Sheesh, this is what I get for helping you guys. I'm so unappreciated," she ignored his snort of laughter, "Anyway, are you sure you guys have enough blankets to keep warm? The weather's getting awfully chilly lately and this place isn't exactly close off very well from the cold and-"

"We're fine, Aeris," Harry interrupted, smiling softly, "This old church is a lot more warmer than it looks."

The Gainsborough house had been quite squashed what with addition of both Harry and Cloud. As a result, Harry had moved into a spare room at the church to allow Cloud to recover. However, as soon as the blonde regained conciousness and found out, he was horrified that Harry had been kicked out of his own home (no matter how much the dark-haired teen tried to disagree), insisting to stay at the church himself. Harry wouldn't allow such a thing though so in the end, both became residents of the small, dusty church. Even after Cloud had made a full recovery, this arrangement had stuck though the two made frequent appearances at the Gainsborough household.

"Well, I've brought you guys lunch," Aeris huffed, giving her basket a little shake to emphasise her point.

Harry grinned and stood up, dusting off his pants with his hands as he did so, "Thanks Aeris. And thank your mum for us too won't you?" he said, taking the basket from her before moving to sit down next to Cloud.

"You can thank her yourself. Mum wants you to join us for dinner to night," her voice still sweet yet leaving no doubt that they didn't have a choice in the matter.

"She really shouldn't trouble herself," Harry argued weakly. He reached into the basket, taking out the large, warm bread roll, deftly breaking it in two. He handed the much larger piece to Cloud before taking a bite of his own. The blonde frowned but took it without protest, having learnt long ago that arguing with Harry was futile.

_Though_, he mused silently, _it's even more futile to argue with Aeris..._

"You know," Aeris begin, putting a sad smile on her face that made Harry pause as he looked up, "You guys haven't been coming around to the house as much any more. I see you everyday here at the church, but mum really missed you two. She mentioned the other day that maybe it's too much of a hassle for you to come visit and that maybe her cooking isn't as good as she thought it was and that maybe you were just saying it was wonderful so as not to her hurt feelings and tha-"

"Alright, alright!" Harry grouched, feeling absolutely guilt-ridden by this point. Inwardly, he knew Aeris had probably made that all up to get him to agree with her – flower girl persona be damned... she was evil, really! – but the guilt had already settled in too deeply for him to refuse, "We'll be there."

Harry ignored the soft, amused snort from beside him.

"Great!" Aeris chirped cheekily, face brightening happily almost instantaneously, "Now scat, you two. I can take care of the flowers. And I expect you to see you at the house by five," she said, waving her finger at them threateningly.

"Yeah, yeah," Harry grumbled as he got up again and headed towards the entrance, "Seeya later, Aeris."

Aeris grinned when Cloud mumbled a soft "bye" and hurried after the raven-haired teen, trailing behind him like a little puppy.

_Isn't that just so cute?_

-

Harry gave his surroundings a bored look as he threw a fireball at the vice. Beside him, Cloud slashed down with his Buster, cleanly cleaving another vice in two. Sector 6 seemed even more of a dump than usual, bits of concrete and scrap metal scattered haphazardly around them. Picking up the smattering of gil and shoving a potion into his pocket, he briefly glanced at the curious blonde beside him as they made their way through. This is the first time he'd brought Cloud this way, having avoided it before as they'd been no reason to aggravate the blonde's wounds with battles they could easily avoid. But now that Cloud had made a full recovery, they could go hunt the stronger monsters in other parts of the slums.

Harry suddenly stopped, Cloud, having not expected that and following closely behind him, bumped into him. Harry turned his head slightly, giving the blonde an amused look. Cloud just shrugged sheepishly back but didn't move away. So what if he was walking a bit too closely? He could protect Harry better this way...

_Yes, you keep telling yourself that,_ a voice that sounded strangely familiar piped up cheerfully in his mind. Cloud immediately viciously squashed it back down.

"You two are pretty strong," the reason Harry had stopped grudgingly admitted, eyeing them warily yet with a strange spark in his eyes.

Cloud frowned, eyes narrowing but a light nudge from Harry stopped him from saying or doing anything.

"And what of it?" Harry called back. Despite his appearance (Harry noted how the black man was probably three-times his size and seemed to have a gun grafted into his arm), the raven-haired teen sensed no feeling of threat from the man.

"I don't know 'bout blondie there beside you but I've see you 'round here a while back," the man replied instead, "Then you seemed ta have disappeared. Thought you must've been done in or sumthin'."

Cloud tensed but Harry waved him off nonchalantly, "And I ask again, what of it?"

The man stared at them for a moment, "Ever heard of Avalanche?"

Harry quirked an eyebrow at him, "Nope."

"WHAT?! You've neva heard of Avalanche? What rock have you been livin' under, punk?!" the man shouted, waving his arms around wildly.

Cloud scowled, "If you've got something to say, get to the point. We don't have all day to listen to your complaining."

"You...!" the man swore a bit but took a deep breath, calming himself, "Fine, whatever. Look, I've got a job for you."

"And why would we take a job from you?" Cloud grumbled.

"Let me finish!" the man growled, "The mako energy everybody's been using; Shinra's been sucking it outta the planet! And if we don't do something soon, the planet's gonna die and-"

"Not interested," Harry dead-panned, seeing where this was headed. He'd had enough of saving the planet and all that rot, thank you very much.

"But-"

"**Not. Interested.**" Harry ground out and without giving the man another chance to say anything, he stormed off in the opposite direction.

Cloud stared at the abnormally agitated Harry in surprise before shaking himself out of it. He took one step, anxious to catch up to the raven-haired teen when something stopped him.

"I'll pay you," the stranger grunted.

Cloud paused and looked at the man intensely.

"1000 gil," the man grumbled.

The blonde twitched. It couldn't possibly make up for everything Harry, Aeris and Ms. Gainsborough had done for him but it was a start. You couldn't make that sort of gil from killing monsters. Not in a short amount of time anyway.

"3000," Cloud replied.

The man glared at him, "What?!"

"Take it or leave it," Cloud dead-panned.

"2000," the man growled, "and we're meetin' at the Seventh Heaven in two days time. Know where that is kid?"

Cloud nodded. _No, not really. But hopefully Aeris will._

The man grunted, turning to walk away, "Oh, and the name's Barret."

-

_Seventh Heaven_, Cloud looked up at the sign. Thankfully, the flower girl didn't ask too many questions when he'd asked her about it and had promised to keep where he was going a secret. All one needed to see was the stormy look on Harry's face after meeting Barret to know that telling him about this was a very bad idea. The raven-haired teen had been brooding ever since but none of them had pried knowing Harry would tell them once he had calmed down. And it was only because of that brooding was Cloud able to sneak away to Sector 7 to meet Barret.

Pushing the door open, he glanced around inside. He eyed glasses sitting innocently along the back wall and wondered if this was the right place. It looked like a plain, old bar to him. Movement to the side caught his attention and to his surprise, a little girl stared almost fearfully back at him. As soon as the blonde took one step forward, the little girl whirled around, disappearing behind a door, "Tifa! Tifa!"

_Wait... Tifa?!_ Cloud thought, stunned.

A tall, busty brunette with long, flowing hair stepped into the room, "What can I do for- ...Cloud?" she said, eyes wide with recognition despite the many years they hadn't seen each other.

"Tifa," Cloud greeted, though a little stiffly. After all, she was once his crush before she practically threw him to the mercy of the other villager's wrath. Though, he supposed he couldn't really blame her considering how loved she was by the townsfolk and he was just the little runt. The nobody.

They stood there for a moment in silence, neither of them really knowing what to say first. They were both spared the action though when the floor gave a shake, the pinball machine to Cloud's right disappearing into the floor. Seconds later the pinball machine and its platform rose again, this time carrying a passenger.

"Yo! 'Bout time you got here!" Barret practically shouted, "Get over here!"

Cloud eagerly complied, though he didn't show it, anxious to get out of the awkward silence. He quickly looked away when Tifa seemed to want to say something, letting out a small sigh of relief when he could no longer see her. Barret gave him a queer look that he stubbornly ignored as he glanced around the new room and the people he was going to have to work with.

-

"Cloud?"

The blonde jumped but relaxed when he realised who it was, "Aeris? What are you doing out here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Aeris mused, practically waving her basket of flowers in his face, "Would like to buy one?" she grinned, "They're only a gil each."

Cloud rolled his eyes, "And what in the world would I do with it?"

"Hmm... maybe give it to a special someone?" she giggled, "Someone we both know who's moping around at the moment and could do with a little cheering up?" she said, giving him a light nudge with her elbow while giving him that knowing look.

Cloud scowled at her but couldn't stop the slight heat that rose up in his cheeks, "You can give it to him yourself."

Aeris pouted though inwardly she was laughing like crazy, "Aww, that's no fun. Anyway, don't think you've gotten off. What are **you** doing here Cloud?"

"Uh... That..." Cloud stuttered, "Actually I've got to go! The other guys are waiting for me! See you later Aeris!" and with that, he quickly ran off.

"Hey!" Aeris tried to call him back but to no avail, "Who's the other guys...?"

-

Cloud watched as Barret and the rest of Avalanche disappear downstairs to prepare for the next mission, leaving him alone with Tifa. He grimaced but he supposed he'd need to talk to her sooner or later.

"So..." Tifa started uncertainly, picking up another glass to clean, "How're you doing Cloud?"

"Fine," Cloud paused, "...And you?" he asked a little stiffly.

"Good, good..."

Silence.

"Is that a flower?" Tifa asked curiously.

Cloud blinked and looked at where she was pointing. There, poking innocently out of his shirt pocket was a small white and yellow flower. Cloud groaned mentally, _Aeris must've stuck it there while I wasn't looking..._

"How nice..." she said, staring at it almost wistfully, "You almost never see them here in the slums."

She turned her big, brown eyes on him but Cloud wasn't interested and ignored her.

"I bet it smells so wonderful... Maybe I should get some for the store," she said, staring at him hopefully.

Cloud didn't answer.

More silence.

"So where are you staying...?"

Cloud shrugged, "With a... friend."

"Oh?" Tifa looked up, surprised. Cloud raised an eyebrow at her, making her blush in embarrassment at what she was suggesting, "It's just... you... never..." she trailed off, uncertain as to how to continue without sounding insulting.

"Hmm," Cloud just agreed, knowing all too well how lonely his childhood had been. He'd never gotten on well with others though most of the time, it was as much their fault as it was his. Silently, he mused that not much had changed though... Cloud smiled softly, he was no longer alone.

"She must be a very special person," Tifa said with discomfit in her tone. Cloud looked up just to catch the strange look on her face before she turned away.

"What do you mean?" Cloud eyed her peculiarly.

Tifa shrugged, "You were smiling," was all she said.

Cloud frowned, opening his mouth to say something but closed it a moment later, not really sure what to say, "I better go," Tifa didn't respond or turn around. As he reached he door, he decided to add one more thing, "And his name is Harry."

Cloud couldn't hold back the small grin when he heard the sound of glass shattering.

-

Cloud smiled sheepishly when he found Harry leaning against the bar at Seventh Heaven, an eyebrow quirked at him. Apparently, it was a lot harder to sneak past Harry when he wasn't brooding.

"Aeris was worried about you," Harry added drily.

"I told her I was fine," Cloud protested weakly.

Harry sighed, "I know I haven't been the most... agreeable these last couple of days but-"

"It's okay, Harry," in his peripheral, he saw Tifa's head shoot up immediately, "You don't need to explain yourself. I understand. I just... I know it's not much but I wanted to pay you back somehow."

Regret welled up inside Cloud when he realised he was cause of the sad smile on Harry's face, "You don't need to pay me back you know."

"I know," Cloud said, shrugging but didn't agree. Harry noticed that and looked up at him in amusement, "Anyway, did you come all this way just to scold me?" the blonde teased, nudging Harry softly on the shoulder.

Harry rolled his eyes but grinned, "No, I just wanted to see the look on your face when I caught you and I must admit, it was worth all that sneaking around to see it."

Cloud snorted.

"Um..." The two males turned to look at her simultaneously, making her twitch slightly, "So, you're Harry?"

The raven-haired teen blinked and nodded.

Silence.

Harry flicked his gaze to Cloud in confusion but the blonde just shrugged. He didn't know what was wrong with her either.

"Cloud," Tifa finally spoke up after cleaning several more glasses, "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Privately," she added when Harry didn't move.

Cloud immediately raised his hand and placed it on Harry's shoulder, earning him a look from the shorter male that he ignored, "Whatever you want to say to me, you can say to Harry too. I'd tell him afterwards anyway," he said with an unconcerned shrug.

Tifa seemed to argue with herself but eventually came to the conclusion that she might not get to speak to Cloud again if she didn't take this chance, "Listen, Cloud..." she began, eyes flickering to the hand on Harry's shoulder constantly, "I'm asking you... please join us."

Cloud felt Harry tense beneath his fingers but answered before he could say anything, "Sorry, Tifa," he shook his head.

"The planet is dying," she hedged on, "Slowly but surely it's dying. Someone has to do something."

"So let Barret and his buddies do something about it," he shrugged, completely unconcerned, "It's got nothing to do with me." _It's not that I really don't care..._ he thought, his gaze turning slightly towards the small male beside him, _there's just... something else I'm more worried about..._

"So?!" Tifa suddenly shouted angrily, "You're really just going to leave?! You're going to just walk right out, ignoring your childhood friend?!"

Both of Harry's eyebrows rose at statement, making Cloud grimace, "That's not-"

"You forgot the promise too," Tifa said sadly.

"Promise?" Harry spoke up softly, his curiosity getting the better of him.

The brunette ignored him however, rather stared at the blonde imploringly. Cloud looked away; he **did** remember that promise... seven years ago... but it was different now. Now there was Harry.

"So you **did** forget," Tifa said, deflating visibly. Cloud pushed back his flinch when Harry looked up at him with a small frown.

"I didn't forgot," Cloud protested almost vehemently, though it was quite obvious he had directed that at Harry much more than at Tifa, "I'm not a hero or famous. I can't keep that promise."

"But you got your childhood dream didn't you?" Tifa argued, "You joined SOLDIER. So come on! You've got to keep your promise-"

"Yo, Cloud and that green-eyed punk!" Barret suddenly shouted from below, "Mission time! Head for the station first. Our next target's sector 5! I'll fill you in on the rest on the train so get going!"

Cloud blinked at Harry, "You're coming too?" he asked, though he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised.

Harry nodded, "You didn't think I'd let you go without me did you?"

Cloud smiled, "Right then. What are we waiting for?" with a sudden burst of courage, he reached out and clasped Harry's hand in his own, "Let's mosey!"

"Let's **mosey**?" Harry laughed as he let the taller male tug him out of the bar.

Leaving behind the tall, busty brunette; silently fuming at being ignored once again.

-

"You say sumthin'?" Barret shouted, gun arm waving around threateningly, "I said 'you say sumthin'?! Yo, would you look at that! It got empty alluva sudden!"

Cloud eyed the gunman's surprise in disbelief; it was pretty obvious why it got empty so sudden. He shook his head lightly as Barret harassed one of the passengers, turning his gaze speculatively at Harry and Jessie, "What are you looking at?" he asked, trying to peek past their semi-huddled forms.

"Oh, Cloud!" Jessie jumped, her face flushed red, "I'm just showing Harry the Railway Map Monitor."

Cloud nodded, recognising it from the last time they took this train.

"You know a lot about this kind of stuff," Harry commented as he stared with mild fascination at the screen.

Cloud's eyes narrowed slightly when the blush of Jessie's face deepened, jaw clenching when she leaned closer to the raven-haired male. Harry didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, I really like this kind of stuff. Bombs and monitors... you know, flashy stuff."

Suddenly, the alarm went off, a red emergency light flashing above them.

**Type A Security Alert!! Unidentified passengers confirmed… A search of all cars will be conducted! Repeat!! Type A Security Alert!! Unidentified passengers confirmed… A search of all cars will be conducted!**

"What's goin' on?!" Barret looked around wildly.

"Oh no!" Jessie paled, "It must've... We've got to get to the next car!"

-

The group of four glared angrily as the President of Shinra got in and took off in a helicopter, leaving them with the strangely shaped 'techno-soldier'.

"Yo, Cloud!" Barret shouted from beside Cloud, "We've gotta do somethin' 'bout him!"

"Help Cloud!" Tifa cried from the other side of the airbuster, "Is this from SOLDIER?"

Beside her, Harry rolled his eyes, "It's just a machine."

"I don't care what it is!" Barret growled, "I'm gonna bust it up!"

As one, they charged forward from both sides. Cloud and Barret were quick to hammer into it with Tifa throwing in an occasional cure. Harry on the other hand, stood a ways back, flinging one lightning spell after another, dealing mounds of damage. They continued like this for quite a while before finally, something changed.

The airbuster shook wildly and then without warning, it exploded. Chunks of the bridge fell into the glowing mako beneath them. The bridge shook and crumbled some more.

To Cloud's horror, the bridge fell apart beneath Harry's feet. Emerald eyes looked at him fearfully as he lunged forward, desperate save him. But it was too late.

And Harry fell into the glowing mako beneath them.

"**Harry!**"

chapter 1 fin

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(btw... this chapter is subject to change... it's 2AM in the morning now so I might end up disagreeing with myself in the morning when I reread this lol I thought of posting it later but meh...)

A.N. Er... I ended with a cliffy... oops? 0:3 And, yes I realise when Cloud fell in the game, he landed in Aeris' church... for the sake of this fanfic, let's just say there was only mako below like it should've been anyway... And finally, I have only one more thing to say: review and you will receive :P


	3. Chapter 2

**Gaia's Children**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or Final Fantasy VII. These belong to J.K. Rowling and Square Enix respectively.

**Harry Potter/Final Fantasy VII Crossover**

**Warnings...** this fanfic contains **SLASH** and unbetadness...

**Pairings:** Cloud/Harry and other pairings I'm uncertain of at the moment (but most likely Vincent/Aeris... don't ask...)

**Summary:** Harry Potter had won. He had defeated Voldemort and brought peace to the wizarding world. He had also died a martyr. Thousands of years later, a Doctor intent on surpassing Hojo resurrects him. Harry's not happy but soon finds out he was brought back by more than just the whims of a quack scientist...

**A.N.: thanks to all those wonderful peeps who reviewed! I love you guys (in a platonic way) so much :D!! **and also thanks to those who pointed out that battle scene at the end... I'd totally forgotten I'd put that side note there lol was meant to go back and fix it but never did o.o also questions :D firstly, Harry couldn't save himself from falling cause the way I see it, these's only a charm for soften his fall but not one to stop it (otherwise wouldn't dumbledore or someone used it when he fell in that quidditch match in third year?) also! there wouldn't be one to help him whizz back up (and that the wigardium leviosa spell won't work on humans) as if there was, people wouldn't need brooms and we wouldn't seen some idiots levitating themselves for fun in the first book lol and then **TIFA AND AERIS **- I got mixed reactions on what I've done with them... personally I used to like Tifa (she was pretty strong and great for support and didn't die like aeris does in the game) but then I started to hate her for what she had done to Cloud when they were little and then her stalkerish tendencies in KH2... on the other hand, I hated Aeris to begin with because of her blatant pinkness and because she died and thus wasting precious hours of traing -- however, after some really well written fics I've begun to really like her :3 so that's how I've come to sister!Aeris and bitch!Tifa here... I suppose I could still have made Tifa nice but the thing is, I needed someone to attempt to edge her way between Cloud and Harry and seriously, apart from Aeris, there is no one else better for the job so sorry to all those Tifa lovers... I'll try to dim down the bashing as much as I can for you though :) anywayz weeeee another chapter done and two more exams to go! Let's make the best of this time XD lol

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**Chapter 2.**

The last thing Harry saw was Cloud terrified blue eyes. Subconsciously, he hoped he'd never that look on the blonde's face ever again. It made his heart clench very painfully.

After that everything was green.

Not the kind of green he'd see whenever he looked into a mirror; a much lighter shade. It reminded him of a big, soft, albeit green blanket as it wrapped itself around him, seeping warmth into his skin and into his blood.

He'd long shut his eyes, the gentle glow of mako was a lot more intense this close up. Even with them shut, he could see the light shining through his eyelids as if he was staring straight at the sun. _A green sun that is..._ Harry mused, feeling for once he didn't have a single care in the world, all his fear seeping out of him as the mako flowed in.

_No, not just mako... __**Life**__._

"You look much better now, love," a voice purred very close to him.

Emerald eyes snapped open in surprise, staring into bright brown eyes right in front of his face. He gasped at how close they were, immediately pushing himself backwards and away from them.

"Oh, that hurts," the girl teased, giggling at her own joke, "Don't you recognise me any more Harry?"

Harry gaped, "G-g-ginny?!" he stuttered. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he must be hallucinating but as he turned his gaze back up, she was still there.

The red-haired girl smiled serenely at him, moving closer to him once more, ignoring the slight tensing of his shoulders as she did so, "That's right, love," slim fingers rose and slipped under Harry's chin in a soft caress, "How long have I waited for this day to come," she said softly, staring deeply into his eyes as she leaned even closer.

"Stop!" a different voice shouted from behind him shocked Harry back into his senses. What in Merlin's name was he doing?! He stood swiftly, ignoring her protest, taking several steps back to put some distance between them.

Brown eyes darkened but a sickeningly sweet smile was plastered on her face, "Longbottom," she began, making Harry's eyes widen in surprise, "What a... **pleasant** surprise," she cooed, turning her sultry gaze to the male in question.

A tall brunette stepped out from behind the mist. "Neville," Harry choked disbelievingly.

"Harry..." he replied softly, taking a step forward towards Harry.

And he would have hug the other male if Ginny didn't suddenly bolt up and hiss angrily at him, "I've **told** you Longbottom. He's mine!"

Neville merely raised an eyebrow at her but Harry could see how tense he was, "He doesn't belong to you, Ginerva, you know that."

She scowled, "Oh, does he belong to you then, does he?" Then she laughed as if the mere idea was an absolute joke.

"No," Neville rolled his eyes, "**But**," he glanced at the red-head to watch her reaction, "he does belong to someone so I suggest you keep your obsession to yourself."

She sneered, obviously not believing a word he was saying.

"How are you?" Neville asked softly, kneeling by Harry's side. The raven-haired male was only just coming out of his shock. Ginny hissed again at their proximity, glaring darkly at the side of Neville's head. Something seemed to keep her, however, from doing anything drastic to pry him off.

"I... What's going on?" Harry said, looking very lost and confused.

Neville smiled sadly at him, "I hadn't wanted this to happen," he replied softly, "You were meant to rest peacefully for all eternity as what you've rightfully deserved but..." his gaze turned to Ginny, "you were disturbed," he finished coldly.

Ginny screamed at him, what little patience she had for the brunette finally breaking, "What's that supposed to mean?! I'm only doing what's **right**! **I've **given him what he **really** deserves! I've given him my **everything**!I've given him **life**! What have **you** done for him Longbottom?!" Winds began to pick up, the glowing green mist swirling around her.

Neville stood, pushing Harry back down gently on the shoulder when the other male tried to do the same. He stepped forward, shielding him from the quickening gusts, "Freedom," he simply said.

The red-head roared in anger and, to Harry's rising horror, her visage twisted and morphed. Before long, she was but a distant likeness to her human heritage and more a deformed monster from some horror movie. _What the hell was going on?!_

Purple tentacles raised into the air before slashing down harshly towards Neville but before Harry could even cry out in warning, a bright yellow shield wrapped itself around them, protecting them from her wrath. Neville raised one arm in her direction, "Begone from here..."

"You're only delaying the inevitable, Longbottom!" Ginny screeched in agony as her mutated form started to slowly fade away, "There's only so long you cant keep him hidden from me! And the longer you do, the sooner you'll reach your grave!" she screamed one last time before she disappeared completely from sight.

The wind faded, the mist returning to its former calm, wafting around them.

"...what did she mean, Neville?" Harry spoke up after a moments silence, "Neville?" he repeated when his friend hadn't replied, "...Neville!"

The brunette had collapsed into a heap on the floor, shaking slightly and very pale as he clutched his left side in pain. Harry knelt down beside him, gently pushing him onto his back, prying his fingers away so he inspect the wound. It was a large gash, spanning twice the length of his hand and, though completely healed as far as he could see, it throbbed beneath his fingers with a worrying shade of red.

"Ah... that..." Neville panted slightly, trying to calm his own shaking, "It's... nothing," he tried to reassure Harry but no avail.

"What happened?" Harry asked, horrified as he placed his palm on the wound, feeding healing energies into it. The red faded a little and Neville seemed to be in less pain but there was nothing else he could do without knowing what caused it.

Neville sighed, "Harry... I guess the first thing to mention is that Ginny and I... we aren't human any more."

Harry nodded, having already sensed something different about his friend and considering the place he had brought him.

"Thousands of years ago," the brunette began, "After Voldemort had been defeated and you had... died," Neville let out another shuddering breath, "we discovered that Voldemort had left us a parting... gift," a haunted look appeared on his face, "He embedded a curse into the ground on which Hogwarts once stood with his dying breath. While normally it would turn the land into a barren waste and dead, it mutated. Hogwarts had always brimmed with magic, of its own and of its students, and so the curse took hold of all that extra magic. It mutated, became sentient, even creating its own army of monsters."

_Neville stared down at the still body of his classmate, face aghast. Her wounds seeped with blood, the red slowly darkening in colour as the poison began to take over her body._

"_Longbottom, hurry!" he heard someone call out._

_The brunette closed his eyes and raised his wand. Letting out a shuddering breath, he silently cast the banishing spell._

_They couldn't let them absorb another body into their ranks._

Neville paused, a strange look crossing his face, "The monsters you see these days are only but a shadow of what they once were. They attacked anything with an ounce of magic, eager to feed on the power that brought them to life and eager to spread further out in the world. With the amount of magic within Hogwarts walls, it didn't take long before they outnumbered us, that number increasing every time they killed. They spared no one; magic and muggle alike. Eventually, many gave up fighting and, combining the efforts of magic and muggle technology, they created shelters deep within the earth and sealed off tightly."

"_We've got to keep fighting!" Ginny cried, fisted bunched tightly, silent tears running down her face even as she stared them down angrily._

"_You may be suicidal but we aren't," one of them said, Neville didn't know which and frankly, he was beyond caring. They needed to move soon or they'd be trapped..._

"_But Harry-!"_

"_Is dead," One of them sneered; Neville resisted the urge to punch him in the face no matter how satisfying it would be, "And he's lucky he is too else I would've tortured that ponce and then sent him to those monsters as a lovely gift. This is all his fault after all."_

_Neville grit his teeth angrily as the people around him twittered in agreement. Beside him, Ginerva Weasley seethed, "You..."_

_They soon learnt never to anger the female Weasley ever again though they would never get a chance to put that lesson into action anyway._

_And Neville wondered if it was wrong if he hadn't felt a single thing as he silently altered the scene to seem just like any other monster attack._

"However," the brunette swallowed uncomfortably, "there were also many wizards and witches who weren't willing to give up yet; Ginny and I, the only ones still alive in our group apart from Snape, at its head. We didn't want to give up our home, the home that you had so painstakingly won for us. Eventually we discovered a means of which we could weaken them and put us back on a much more even level at which we could fight them. It worked," a wistful look came on his face as he gave a small humourless laugh, "but unfortunately, there was one side-effect; it filled the air with poisonous residue that slowly but surely killed everyone of us. We tried to enter the shelters but were scorned and sent away. They thought us monsters in human form trying to infiltrate their base so we could eat them. And so, we died. However... Ginny and I didn't make it to eternal rest as we had hoped..."

_**Welcome**__, a voice called out to them._

_Neville and Ginny glanced at each other uncertainly before the red-head spoke up, "Who are you? And where are we?" she said, gesturing to their misty green surroundings._

_**You are in a place of in-between. A realm within the Lifestream of Gaia where there is only peace and tranquility. Who were are however, it will become clear to you should you accept.**_

"_Accept?" Neville echoed, "Accept what?"_

_**This world has been torn asunder by a great catastrophe but you, who would not let go of hope, have brought its people back from the brink of extinction. Your love for this world was great, far great than any we have seen for many years and so we offer you this. A new life; one that will allow you to continue to serve this planet and its remaining people. Return this world to its former glory.**_

_Neville looked down at his feet; he felt clearly divided in two. On the one hand, passing on meant he could see all his family and his friends again but on the other hand, this was an opportunity. To save what was left of his home. To save what his loved ones had all given their life for._

_A laugh to his left brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to look at Ginny but she had turned away, her hair shielding her face. She laughed again, Neville shivering from tinge of insanity that accompanied it._

"_Love for this world?" she said disbelievingly, "Help __**those**__ people?" she laughed again, "Do you take me for a fool?!" she screamed._

_Neville watched wide-eyed as winds swirled around her, an angry red glow surrounding her form._

"_**He**__ gave everything for them," she said, her voice dipping low, "and what did __**they**__ do to repay him? They threw away __**everything**__," she hissed, "__**Everything**__ he had left for them because they were __**afraid**__. They cursed his name for making them fight the last of shadows. They spat on his grave because the monster __**they**__ had created had left them a parting gift, one they were too __**weak**__ to handle. __**And you expect me to want to save them**__**?!**__" she screamed. A dark crimson light burst out and engulfed her._

_And when it faded away, she was gone._

"Somehow," Neville murmured, "she landed back in England. Then one by one, she set about destroying each and everyone of the shelters. They called her the 'Calamity from the Skies'. And she almost succeeded is killing them all too. However, despite how powerful she may have become, she was still only one witch and before long, the remaining wizards and witches overpowered her and they sealed her away."

Neville glanced at Harry tiredly, "I, as you can, accepted the offer. That's why I could bring you here when you fell in the mako. Not that it would have hurt you anyway. Gaia had always acknowledged you as her Child, even at the moment of your conception."

Harry rolled what Neville had told him around his mind, shock finally ebbing away. Grief filled him when he had heard what Voldemort had left what remained of his family, but the hand on his arm brought him comfort. That those who meant the most to him hadn't blamed him or hated him for leaving them behind.

"That still doesn't explain that," Harry finally said, pointing to Neville's scar.

Neville grimaced.

"_Ginny, stop this immediately!" he called out to the raging red-haired female._

"_Get out of my way, Neville!" she yelled back, not pausing in her destruction of the small settlement, "Why are you helping them anyway? They killed __**him**__! They killed __**us**__!"_

_Neville bit his lip, hurriedly putting out one fire while blocking one of her blasts at another building, "Ginny, please! Revenge will solve nothing! __**Harry wouldn't have wanted this!**__"_

"_**What do you know!**__" as the world exploded around her, Neville gasped as his side burst out in pain._

_And as the dust cleared away, there was no more Ginny, only a large chasm in the Earth. A gash like the one now present on Neville's side._

_Neville had chosen to be Gaia's avatar and now, her pain was also his._

Harry could only stare at him in horror.

His emerald eyes took in the paleness of his friend's skin, the way his body shook every so often from the pain that racked his body. Life being drained from him even as they spoke.

"Shinra," Harry growled, the hate he had harboured for them filled his whole body, "I-"

Neville shook his head, smiling despite looking so sickly, "I will be fine, Harry," he tried to reassure once more, "You don't need to save anyone any more."

Harry's eyes shuttered, heart clenching as he felt his own words coming back to haunt him. He **didn't** want to save anyone any more.

But this wasn't just anyone. This was Neville.

He took a deep breath; yes, this was different. He **needed** to do this, "I won't let you die, Neville. My Hero complex won't allow it," he joked weakly, his heart not really into it.

Neville just smiled back sadly.

_I'm sorry._

-

"Everyday Mako reactors suck up Spirit energy, diminishing it," Bugenhagen said, "Spirit energy gets compressed in the reactors and processed into Mako energy. All living things are being used up and thrown away. In other words, Mako energy will only destroy the Planet..."

A solemn silence fell over the room.

"The story of the planets and those who lived with them..." the old man spoke up one last time before he ushered them away, "You want to know more? Then you must listen to the words of the elders."

As Cloud, Tifa and Barret made their way down to meet the rest of the gang, they were surprised to see Aeris barrelling towards them.

"What's wrong?" Cloud asked worriedly, seeing the tears running down her face.

"There's something you should come and see Cloud," and then, to their amazement, she smiled, her eyes gleaming. They were tears of happiness.

"What is it?" Cloud asked, confused as he made his way into the room Aeris was gesturing towards.

As soon as he stepped inside though, he froze.

For there on a bed asleep, was none other than Harry.

"A pilgrim found his on a beach nearby," an elder stepping up beside them explained, "He brought him to us in the hope that we could help him. And when he didn't wake, we had hoped someone would find him here and recognise him. It seems that time has finally come," he smiled, eyes shining brightly at the two moved to sit beside the sleeping man.

Aeris gently brushed Harry's fringe from his face as she smiled down at the person she had come to love as her little brother. Cloud sat on Harry's other side, hand squeezing the others as if to reassure himself that Harry was really there, "Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"Hmm... we think it's all the mako that his body has absorbed though we don't know how that happened or how he would end up on a beach," another elder said, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"I... see..." Cloud bit his lip. If it was mako poisoning, then the effects would be unpredictable. For all they knew, Harry could be in lots of pain at the moment though the elder had tried to reassure him that that wasn't the case. The effects of mako varied from person to person and Harry might never awaken ever again.

Cloud's insides twisted horribly at that thought.

-

Bugenhagen had asked for two others to accompany him and Nanaki, or otherwise known as Red XII, and as the leader of their rag-tag bunch, Cloud was expected to go. Cloud hadn't wanted to leave Harry's side however but after much pushing and prodding from Aeris and promising him that Harry would still be there when he got back, he'd left with Tifa to explore wherever Bugenhagen was taking them, though **very** reluctantly.

Aeris sighed, settling herself down on the bed where Harry slept. She gently tucked the blankets around him, hand reaching out to caress his cheek, "Please wake up soon Harry," she whispered, "We missed you so much and it hurts to find you again only to see you like this. You know," she leaned closer like she used to when the two would share happy secrets, "Cloud was so broken when he told me what had happened. He blamed himself for not being able to save you. He would act like nothing was wrong in front of the others but I know he had cried. Crying because he thought he would never see you again."

No response.

Aeris sniffled at little but forced a small smile on her face as she sat back and turned her gaze to the ceiling, "Anyway, you've certainly missed out on a lot of stuff. Hmm... where should I start? Oh! You know, Cloud had to dress up like a girl, with a long wig and a frilly dress," she giggled as she remembered the mortified look on his face as he exited the dresser, "He looked so cute. It was so we could infiltrate Don Corneo's mansion. Remember him? The really fat man who owned most of Sector 6? We got in easily enough and saved Tifa though we had to get out via the sewer," she reminisced, nose wrinkling as she remembered the smell, "and then, we had to hurry back to Sector 7," she said sombrely, "the President had ordered the plate to be dropped on the slums so they could destroy Avalanche for good and make for more... I heard Jessie, Biggs and Wedge didn't make it... Do you remember them?" she glanced at Harry but still no reaction. With another sigh, she turned her gaze back to the ceiling, "I don't know the details of what happened afterwards but Cloud and the others had to break into Shinra to save me," a slight wistful smile came upon her face, "You'd be so annoyed if you knew the Turks had captured me and Hojo tried to breed me..."

"I'm going to smash Hojo's head in," a loud groan came from her right.

Aeris jumped, staring wide-eyed as Harry's eyelids twitched and then slow but surely pried open, his emerald orbs blinking sleepily back at her, "Right after I kill whoever tried to split **my** head in half," he grumbled, raising a hand to rub his aching head. Then he smiled in amusement at the absolutely stunned look on the brunette's face, "Hi, Aeris."

"H-h-h..." she stuttered before she flung herself onto Harry's body, hugging him tightly, "**Harry!!** You're awake!"

"Yep," he grinned as he tried to sit up only to flop back down onto the bed, moaning loudly, "Okay, bad idea."

Aeris snorted but gently placed her hand on his forehead, "_Heal_."

Warmth resonated from her palm, Harry sighing happily as the pain went away.

"It's great to have you back," Aeris suddenly mumbled. Harry stared at her, her eyes glistening slightly with moisture, and smiled back, for once whole-heartedly agreeing.

_It was great to be back_.

-

Both Harry and Cloud had always been a bit of an insomniac, thus it wasn't a surprise that several hours after the sun had set and the moon hung high in the sky, they were the last two around the bonfire. The others had long retired to the makeshift beds the villagers had kindly made for them and the bonfire having dwindled to only a fraction of its previous size, yet these two remained, relishing in the other's company.

For Harry they may have been separated for mere hours but for Cloud, it'd been several hollowing weeks, steeped in misery and anger yet never having the chance to mourn properly. So it wasn't surprising that the blonde wishing to be in his presence, if only for he sake of peace of mind. And Harry... he found no reason to disagree.

So they sat there side by side, staring up at the twinkling stars as Harry recounted another one of his adventures to the enraptured Cloud to pass the time. It was something he had often done when they had stayed at the church when the blonde recovered and there was little else of interest to do. A wistful but happy smile would always come across Harry's face as he relived the memories that were little more than legends in crumbling history books these days. The bad memories were still there but as so much time had passed, only the deep longing for his past life, family and friends remained. But with every word he spoke, he felt as if he were there again – if only for a little while.

Cloud loved every moment of it. All the pain and sorrow the raven-haired man seemed to carry around with him everyday slipped away as he narrated wondrous tales to the avidly listening blonde, a beauteous smile on his face. Cloud felt like he could stay like this forever. But unfortunately, the group was due to leave the next morning and he wouldn't have Harry all to himself any more. That didn't mean he wasn't going to make the best of this time however.

Cloud blinked, straightening up, wondering if he had heard what Harry just said wrong, "What...?"

"Hum...?" Harry glanced at him, it wasn't often Cloud interjected.

The blonde hesitated but steeled his resolve not a moment later, "What did you just say?" he asked again.

"Oh, er..." Harry scratched the back of his neck, gaze returning to the star-filled sky thoughtfully, "I said that Hogwarts lake was always this brilliant, beautiful shade of blue. Like your eyes, actually."

"You... think my eyes are beautiful?" Cloud echoed, looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Harry, still staring happily up at the stars, nodded, "Yes. Ever since that first time I met you... Oh," he paused, wondering if he had said something weird. He turned to look at the blonde, "Cloud, I-"

He never got to finish what he was going to say however when a pair of lips descended on his. For a moment, he sat there frozen in surprise but then his brain finally caught up with his body as he pressed forward, deepening the kiss as he wrapped his arms around Cloud. Encouraged, the blonde got a little bolder as he slipped a hand under the other's shirt, trailing his fingers across warm skin. Harry gave a soft moan, lips parting slightly. Cloud seized this opportunity immediately, slipping his tongue inside Harry's mouth, eager to immerse himself in taste that was wholly and completely, Harry.

And then, all too soon they had to pull apart, breathing heavily.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Cloud breathed out softly, pulling the smaller man closer towards him.

Harry just smiled, emerald eyes sparkling happily up at him as he hugged him tighter, "You better get up before we leave without you!"

Cloud blinked again, "What?" he asked, confused.

Harry's voice went up an octave, "I said, **you better get up now before we leave without you!**" and then something hard hit Cloud's head.

"Ow!" Cloud yelped, clutching his aching head as he sat up, "Yuffie!"

"Hehehe," the female ninja grinned widely, waving the large frying pan in her hand in his face, "Sorry, Cloudster. You left me with no other choice," she chirped, sounding completely unapologetic.

"Cloud, are you all right?" a soft voice called out.

The blonde pushed down the blush threatening to appear as he remembered what he had dreamt only moments before. When he finally got it under control, he gazed up at the raven-haired man. What was supposed to be a reassuring smile turned into a frown when he realised how heavily the other man was leaning against the door frame. He quickly stood, wrapping an arm around his waist and drawing him close to support him. Harry smiled at him gratefully.

"Are you okay?" Cloud looked at him in concern.

"Just a little drained," Harry said, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. But I'm going to slow you guys down..." he bit lip slightly; he hated being a burden but he didn't want Cloud to go off without him...

The blonde barely resisted the urge to lean forward and bite it for him, "I don't care. I'm not leaving without you," Cloud said, ignoring the cooing noises Yuffie started to make in the background.

The smile that spread across Harry's face was more than enough to make up for that annoyance.

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A.N. Ehehe... I've written my first kiss scene! ...though it was only a dream... still... Hahaha... -feels a little weird for some reason- anyway... hopefully it wasn't too bad lol and hopefully I haven't gone too fast and made this chapter a little awkward... oh well :3 tell me what you think? Love it or should I rewrite it?


	4. Chapter 3

**Gaia's Children**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or Final Fantasy VII. These belong to J.K. Rowling and Square Enix respectively.

**Harry Potter/Final Fantasy VII Crossover**

**Warnings...** this fanfic contains **SLASH** and unbetadness... Oh, and Cid's potty mouth o.O

**Pairings:** Cloud/Harry and other pairings I'm uncertain of at the moment (but most likely Vincent/Aeris... don't ask...)

**Summary:** Harry Potter had won. He had defeated Voldemort and brought peace to the wizarding world. He had also died a martyr. Thousands of years later, a Doctor intent on surpassing Hojo resurrects him. Harry's not happy but soon finds out he was brought back by more than just the whims of a quack scientist...

**Note 1.** THANK YOU Nox Noctis of Eternus Luna, Crystallyn, kirallie, ShadowOkamiYokai, momocolady, Firehedgehog, insanechildfanfic, Josephine J. Turpin, Sabishii Kage Tenshi, Guardian Dimension, TheOneThatIsAddictedToHPfics, angelkitty77, FrozenDream, Kylip, FairyButterfly, Merrymow, BladeMaxwell-GoddessofDeath and Lanari FOR REVIEWING! YOU MAKE ME HAPPY, SO HAPPY, SO VERY VERY HAPPY!! -DANCES-

**Note 2.** Btw... just to clear one thing up. Someone mentioned whether there was anything between Harry and Neville and I'd have to say no. It was purely and still is a brotherly sort of love. Just like how Ginny and Harry's love was a sisterly one (though Ginny hadn't exactly felt that way...)

**Note 3.** OMG I finally updated?

**Note 4. **I don't particularly like the name Red XIII so I'm gonna use Nanaki :P

**Note 5. **clichés are so much fun? o.o

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**Chapter 3.**

It was Barret's turn to drive as the group made their way out of Cosmos Canyon and towards the Nibel region. Aeris and Yuffie were currently huddled together, their giggles escalating every time they turned to glance at Cloud and Harry. Nanaki, who was seated beside them, also watched the two males though his gaze was of a more inquisitive nature. Tifa, on the other hand, seemed torn between either joining the other two girls or sending everyone baleful looks from her corner of the buggy.

The reason for all of this? Sometime during the drive, Harry had succumbed to exhaustion and had fallen asleep. An innocent bump in the road later, the raven-haired man tipped sideways and straight into the blonde's lap. The jolt had woken the wizard but emerald eyes had merely blinked sleepily up at Cloud's stunned and slightly flushed face, shut his eyes once more and drifted back off to sleep.

And of course, Cloud didn't have the heart to stop him.

Another round of giggles broke the blonde from him thoughts. He sent the two girls another glare only to realise, belatedly, the source of their amusement. His hand jerked away immediately from where they had been absent-mindedly playing with Harry's soft hair and dropped to his side, much to both the amusement and disappointment of the girls.

His gaze turned to the outside world as he watched the red sand roll into grassy plains, intent on ignoring them, deigning not to turn around even when Nanaki's softly spoken question sent the girls into fresh round of giggles. It was more obvious now than ever that, despite the red lion-like creature's advanced years and wisdom, he was still a child.

Suddenly, the buggy jolted to a stop and an unusually pensive Barret turned to look at the others, "Tifa... Cloud... I think you have a look at this..."

Confused, Tifa and Cloud, who lifted Harry's head from his lap and gently lowered him onto the seat, jumped out the back of the buggy to see what had irked the large man. And immediately, two equal looks of disbelief adorned their faces.

"What-?" Tifa gasped, "This was all burnt down, wasn't it?" she asked Cloud, rubbing her eyes to see if she was hallucinating.

"...It was," Cloud muttered darkly, memories of the day beginning to pour back into the forefront of his mind.

"Then why...? My house is still there too!" Tifa explained.

"The hell's going on then?!" Barret cursed as he came up behind them, the others following close behind, "This a dream or somethin'?"

"I don't know!" Cloud cried, frustration overwhelming his confusion for a moment, "But I still remember... the intense heat of the flames..." he said, feeling as if he'd walked right into the middle of the nightmare.

Cloud jumped when a hand reached out and grabbed his, entwining their fingers. He looked to his left, and there was Harry, wide-awake and wearing a soft, sad smile as he squeezed the blonde's hand reassuringly. The tension immediately began to ebb away and the blonde smiled gratefully in response; everything will be okay as long as Harry's here...

"Let's just go," Tifa's exasperated voice suddenly cut-in and Cloud looked up to see her storm angrily into Nibelheim, the others following her example though in a more subdued manner. ...Well, subdued except for the fresh round of giggles from Aeris and Yuffie.

Cloud turned in time to see Harry watch them walk away with an indulgent look. The blonde furrowed his brow at Harry but emerald eyes merely twinkled back in response and with one last smile and reassuring squeeze, he let go of Cloud's hand before he too passed under the large arch into the small village.

Cloud watched him go for a moment, his hand twinging slightly in disappointment and body feeling a little bit colder, none of which felt nice at all. And so, throwing all caution into the wind and giggling girls be damned, Cloud ran up beside Harry, swiftly snatching up the other's hand, not planning on letting go any time soon.

A flush of embarrassment immediately began to creep up but he did his best to ignore it. That, and the amused but adoring look on Harry's face.

-

Harry listened tensely as Cloud recounted his story to the dark-haired man they had found sleeping in on of the coffins under Shinra mansion. Sephiroth and "Jenova"... it seemed Ginny had finally found a puppet strong enough to continue wreaking the havoc she began thousands of years ago. While Cloud had managed to stop Sephiroth years ago before things had gotten too out of hand, the silver-haired man had somehow managed to return from the brink of death, escaping the lifestream to do his "mother's" every dark bidding.

_Ginny..._ Harry thought sadly, _What have you become...? What have you become... because of __**me**__?_

"Harry?" Aeris whispered, as Cloud recounted their search for Sephiroth, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Harry answered evasively, "Aeris... You mentioned once that... you can hear the planet?"

The brunette frowned slightly at the change of subject but decided to let it slide for now, "Yes but not very well..."

Harry hesitated, "...Can you hear it now? What is it saying..."

Aeris shut her eyes and just listened. "I can't-" she bit back a sob, when she finally opened her eyes, "there's just... so much pain," she murmured.

Harry barely held back his flinch, blanking his face immediately as he turned his face away, "I see..."

"Harry?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm just going to... go look around. Stay here," he ordered, leaving the room quickly before he completely lost it. He glanced back briefly to make sure she hadn't decided to follow him before he stumbled down the dark, musty corridor. He flung a door open, shutting it behind him before he let himself slide onto the floor, resting his head on his knees. Why couldn't his life ever be simple?

_But it is simple, isn't it?_ A voice in his head said, _Kill Ginny_.

Harry stiffened, his fists clenching as he tried to stay calm, _I can't... I can't kill Ginny!_ He argued back, defensively.

_But if you don't... Neville will die._

And that was the crux of things, wasn't it? Either way, he'd lose one of his closest friends. Either way, he'd be responsible for their death.

He had to kill one to save the other.

There was no other way.

_No!_ he thought desperately, _There has to be! There has to be another way! I can... __**will**__ save them both, whatever the cost._

But how?

_Ginny... I need to talk to Ginny..._

"Oh, it's you."

Harry looked up in surprise, having not expecting anyone else to be in this room. His eyes widened as he took in the man's appearance and, wearily, he stood, body tensed and ready to defend himself if need be.

"There's no need to be afraid," the tall, silver-haired man smiled, "Mother's told me so much about you... She's waited for so long for your return..."

Harry made no move to comment.

"And now..." Sephiroth continued, "now that you're here, everything will be made right again. With her superior power, knowledge and magic, combining it with yours, together you will destroy this world and rid us of the worthless scum that plague it!"

"No..." Harry mumbled.

"What...?" Sephiroth looked at him in surprise.

"No," Harry looked him straight in the eye, emerald eyes blazing, "I won't allow it!" And then, against his better judgement, he summoned a large ball of energy into his hand and threw it at the silver-haired man.

But Sephiroth was fast, too fast, as he let it sail past him and slam into the wall behind him, leaving a large crater and the mansion shaking unsteadily in its wake. Glowing green eyes stared at the destruction in what could be almost called awe, "So much power... and yet, this is only minuscule fraction of what you could really do, isn't it?" he murmured.

The door to the lap slammed open and in streamed Cloud and all the others. They glanced at Harry for a moment before Aeris' gasp of surprise drew their eyes away. What they saw had them reeling for what they had been searching for so long was right before them.

"Sephiroth," Cloud hissed angrily.

"So you're here too..." Sephiroth said calmly, seemly completely unperturbed by the fact he was surrounded by a group of people that wanted to kill him, "Are you going to participate in the Reunion?"

"Reunion? What are you talking about?!"

"Jenova will be at the Reunion," he said, almost absent-mindedly, "She will return to us as the Calamity from the Skies!"

"Jenova, the Calamity from the Skies?" Barret looked confused as did the others, "You mean she wasn't an Ancient?"

"...I see. I don't think you have the right to participate. But you, on the other hand," Sephiroth said, turning to once again look at Harry, "She awaits." And then, he was gone.

"What was all that about?" Yuffie eventually piped up in the silence that followed.

"I don't know..." Cloud gritted his teeth in annoyance, turning to look at his raven-haired friend, "Harry, what-? **Harry?!**"

With a thump, Harry collapsed into a heap onto the ground, the strain of everything that had happened and he had learnt finally catching up on him.

-

"Harry?"

Emerald eyes blinked, "Neville..."

A smile. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," he replied automatically and just as automatically, a frown appeared on the brunette's face but Harry spoke up before Neville could, "Where's Ginny? I need to talk to her."

The brunette hesitated, "Harry, you don't need to-"

"Yes, I do," Harry broke in harshly, "You know I do, Neville. I'm not going to sit around while both of my best friends die!"

Neville flinched and immediately Harry felt bad; it wouldn't be the first he'd let his frustration at a situation get the better of him, "I'm sorry Nev, I-"

"It's okay Harry. I'm the one who should be sorry... I don't have any right to try and stop you. I just wish that you-"

"I know," was all Harry said, emerald eyes softening as he reached forward and hugged his friend; an action that was heartily returned.

"She's... no longer in this realm," Neville eventually spoke up, "She's roaming the human world now with that man who calls himself her son."

"And is he?" was what Harry asked but Neville knew what he was really asking. Sephiroth was not once their friend, compounded by the grievous emotional and physical injuries he had inflicted upon Harry's young blonde charge, he was not someone who had endeared himself to Harry. In fact, he was a roadblock towards what Harry wished to accomplish and so as soon as he returned to his full strength, the silver-haired man needed to be... **eliminated**.

It may have went against every fibre of his being to kill but Harry learnt that particular lesson long, long ago. **Family should always come first**.

And so what Harry needed to know were his strengths and weaknesses, but more importantly, whether he carried a certain attribute...

"He was injected with her cells in a process that did lead to him carrying some of her qualities but... he doesn't have the ability to use magic without materia like we do. Yes, his affinity with magic is great but strip him of his materia and he is little more than a glorified squib..." Neville turned to look at his best friend, "His physical strength is immense however. **Please** be careful, Harry..." he pleaded.

His only response was a smile that did little to reassure him.

-

When Harry woke up, he realised immediately that he was no longer in Nibelheim. The air was warm unlike the constant chill that plagued the little village from being overshadowed by the near-by mountains. Aforementioned mountains were also missing, the bright sunlight streaming through his window revealing grassy green plains that stretched into the horizon.

He was broken from his thoughts when something shifted on the bed beside him. Looking down, a soft smile adorned Harry's face as he took in the bob of spiky blonde hair resting beside him. With a grin, he carefully carded his fingers through the unusually soft hair before reaching for the spot beneath his chin which Harry knew was very sensitive.

Not a moment later, Cloud bolted up straight, eyes glancing wildly around the room for the assailant. His blue eyes eventually settled on the raven-haired man before him, eyes widening slightly when his still sleepy brain finally realised the implications.

"Hello," Harry greeted him in amusement.

"Harry! You're okay!" Cloud said, relief obvious as he leaned forward to place a hand on Harry's forehead, "Your fevers gone... How do you feel?"

_Emotionally exhausted_. "I'm fine," Harry replied instead.

A small frown tugged on the corner of Cloud's lips, "What... What happened?" he asked a little uncertainly, as if worried the very question would send the other man running.

Emerald eyes shuttered slightly before he took a deep breath to calm himself. Now was not the time to break down again... "I... I don't know," he squeezed Cloud's hand slightly before the blonde spoke up again, "I need to... think on it a bit more. But I promise you..." he continued seeing the distinctly unsatisfied look that crossed Cloud's face briefly, "I promise you, that once I **do** figure it out, I **will** tell you... Okay?"

The blonde still looked a bit uncertain but he nodded anyway, not wanting to push Harry away or quarrel with him especially when he looked so frail and openly unguarded. Instead he asked, "Are you thirsty? Or maybe hungry? I could go and get you something... Are you comfortable? Should I get you another pillow-"

"Cloud," Harry interrupted with a smile, barely squashing down the urge to giggle, "Where are the others?"

"Huh? The others? Oh, they're in another house talking with the Captain."

"The Captain?"

Cloud nodded but didn't continue. After all, he didn't know much about the man himself, having spent his time here in Rocket Town fretting over the unconscious Harry even though he had been informed it was only exhaustion.

Seeing no more information forthcoming, Harry sat up, "Well then, let's go."

"Wait, what?"

"You're the leader of this rag-tag group, aren't you? You should be there. And I... I have to admit being a little curious myself. So we're going over there now," Harry said as he begun to unbuttoned the pyjamas he had been placed in.

Blue eyes widened slightly before turning away, a slight flush to his cheeks, "N-now? But..."

"I'm fine, really. I haven't felt so energised in a long time," and for once, it was true. He hadn't returned to his full strength yet but he was getting there...

So despite Cloud's protest, minutes later the two stood outside the Captain's home.

"Shit! Shera, are you blind?! We've got guests! Go get some fuckin' tea already!" a blonde man shouted as soon as they stepped inside.

"I... I'm sorry..." a small brunette female said as she bustled around in haste.

It was then Aeris noticed their entrance, "Oh! Harry, you're awake!" she said happily as she rushed forward, taking his hands in her, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Harry smiled back at her, "Yes. I'm sorry if I worried you."

Aeris' smile grew, "Not half as worried as Cloud ones. He refused to leave your side!" she said with a giggle.

"Aeris!" Cloud hissed, face turning red.

"What?! You wanna take the Tiny Bronco? Are you out of you fucking' mind?!" the Captain suddenly screamed at Barret, "That's my most cherished possession. I can't let you take it!"

"The Tiny Bronco?" Harry turned to Aeris quizzically as they two men began to scream profanities at each other.

In response, she pointed out of one of the windows that faced the backyard. A small plane sat innocently on the green grass, its pink paint shining brightly in the sunlight - a testament to how well it was being taken care of.

"It's beautiful," Harry said simply. And he meant it wholeheartedly; anything that could give him back the freedom of sailing through the sky was a godsend. It'd been so long since he'd last flown...

Emerald eyes blinked, leaving behind his daydreams as he abruptly realised the room had gotten strangely quiet. The Captain, in particular, was staring at him intensely. Suddenly the man strode over to Harry, "You know what?" he said before slinging an arm over the shorter man's shoulder, throwing him a wide, toothy grin, "I like **you**! Cid Highwind's the name. But you can just call me Cid. What's your name?"

The raven-haired man smiled back, "Harry. Just Harry."

Meanwhile Aeris shared a grin with a giggling Yuffie and a stoically amused Vincent as they watched Cloud glare daggers of death at both the arm wrapped around Harry's shoulders and the man connected to it. Either Cid was ignoring him or felt that the blonde wasn't a threat, the arm remained firmly attached to the shortest of their group (bar Yuffie and even then it was a bit iffy) as the two shared their mutual love of the sky.

Before the Cloud could do anything about it however, the front door burst open and in bounced a rather rotund man easily three times Harry's weight.

"Hey-Hey! Long time no see!" the man exclaimed, "Cid, how ya been?"

"Well, if it isn't the fat man, Palmer," Cid greeted in his usual brusque manner, his arm, much to Cloud's chagrin, still around Harry, "How long were you figurin' to keep me waitin'?! So? When's the Space Program gonna start up again?"

"Hey-Hey! Actually I don't know. The President's outside; why don't you go ask him?"

"Fuck! Good for nothing fat piece of shit!" Cid swore, patting Harry's messy hair lightly before he left, "Be right back."

"Don't say 'fat'!" Palmer half-sobbed before brightening immediately, "Hey-Hey! Tea! Can I have some too? With lotsa sugar and honey and... oh yeah, don't forget the lard!"

Harry pulled a face at that and went to follow Cid, not particularly wanting to stay to watch this glutton ruin some perfectly good tea. The others followed him but mostly to find out what Rufus wanted with the chain-smoking captain.

"What the...? You got me all excited for nothing?! Then, what'd you come here for?!"

"I want to borrow the Tiny Bronco," a blonde man Harry didn't recognise said but who he assumed was Rufus, the current President of Shinra Inc., "We're going after Sephiroth but it seems like we've been going in the wrong direction. We think we know where he's headed now but we have to cross the ocean. That's why we need your plane..."

"Fuck!" Cid swore again, "First the Airship, then the Rocket and now the Tiny Bronco? Shinra took outer space from me and now you want to take the sky away from me too?!"

"Oh my..." here Rufus gave Cid a deprecating look that Harry knew all too well from his former life, "You seem to forget it was because of Shinra Inc. that you were able to fly in the first place," he said coldly.

"What?!"

"Erm... Excuse me..." a timid voice suddenly called out from behind them. It was Shera, "This way..." she said, leading them inside, "You wanted to use the Tiny Bronco, right? I believe Palmer's going to take it. Why don't you go talk to him? ...I **know** he'd rather you have it anyway..." she added after a pause, staring pointedly at Harry.

Barret immediately barged outside, the others close behind. Harry lingered back for a moment, "I'll take care of it," he promised softly.

Shera smiled and nodded, reassured.

Harry ran out in time to hear Palmer call for security. None came however and the group engaged in battle (if you can really call it that...) with Palmer. Moments later, the fight had ended, Palmer sprawled a ways away on the ground after getting hit by a random truck.

"It's not going to stop," Vincent commented as he stared at the running Tiny Bronco.

"Forget it!" Cloud shouted, "Get in!"

The group hurriedly clambered on and, not a moment too soon, the plane gave another splutter and lifted off the ground. As it zipped up into the sky, they heard shouts of surprise below them and looked in time to see Shinra soldiers open fire at them. Aeris immediately sent an array of lightning bolts to rain down on them, successfully scattering them and ceasing the firing.

"Go down!" Harry suddenly shouted at Tifa who had taken it upon herself to pilot the small plane.

"What?" she looked at him strangely.

"I said, go down!" he ordered. A scowl crossed her normally pretty face but thankfully, she complied without any more disagreements. The plane swooped down, its occupants holding on tightly as it swept across the ground over the heads of Rufus and his men.

"Come on!" Harry shouted to Cid. The man didn't need any more encouragement as he raced beside the small plane before leaping deftly onto the wing beside Harry. Taking that as her signal, Tifa pulled the stick back, sending them back up into the sky.

Sounds of gunfire began to rain around them once more before a large bang at their back caused them to look around in horror.

"Shit! The tail's been hit!"

"Emergency landing..." Vincent murmured, as calm as ever as if they weren't about to crash to their fiery doom. Harry could see why he was so calm though; they were completely by-passing the land and thankfully heading for the near-by river.

"This is gonna be a big splash!" Cid shouted over the wind, "Hold onto your drawers, an' don't piss in 'em!"

The splash was as big as Cid had predicted, drenching them head to toe in water but it was otherwise a safe and much better landing compared to what it would have been had they hit land. For one, the tail was no longer on fire.

As they attempted to wrench their clothing of a much water as they could while still on the plane, they drifted slowly down the river towards the vast ocean. Cid sat on the wing, absent-mindedly running his hand along rim, "She won't fly any more..." he sighed sadly.

"Can't we use it as a boat?" Yuffie, as tactless as always, suddenly suggested.

"Fuck! Do whatever you want!" Cid growled, turning his back on everyone, slumped over dejectedly.

Harry sent Yuffie a look that had her pouting before moving forward to sit beside the former captain, "Cid... what are you going to do now?" he questioned carefully.

"Dunno," and if he wasn't such a manly man, Harry was certain Cid would have mirrored Yuffie's pout, "I'm history with the Shinra and I've given up on the town."

"How about your wife, Shera?" Nanaki asked.

"Wife? Don't make me laugh!" Cid scoffed, "Just thinkin' about marryin' her gives me the chills. What're you guys gonna do?" he said, finally turning around to look at them.

"We're going after a man named Sephiroth," Tifa said and after a pause added, "We'll have to get Rufus of the Shinra too, someday."

"Why don't come with us?" Harry asked, earning him a surprised look from Cloud which immediately turned into a scowl when Aeris poked his side in unconcealed amusement.

"I don't know who Sephiroth is but... What the hell! Sign me up!" he said, throwing his arms in the air.

Harry smiled at him which Cid immediately returned in spades, throwing his arm around Harry again in a brotherly sort of fashion (which wasn't how Cloud saw it however...). He then grinned at the rest of the group, "Glad to be aboard, numbskulls!"

Nanaki blinked in confusion, "Numbskulls...?"

"Yeah," Cid nodded vigorously, "Anyone stupid enough to go against Shinra nowadays has **gotta** be a numbskull! And you know what? I like it! ...So? We're we headed?"

Suffice to say, by the end of that, Cloud Strife was not a happy camper.

* * *

**Note 6.** Harry and Cid... BEST FRIENDS FOREVER :D

**Note 7.** Any more notes I've forgotten will go here...

**Note 8.** So? Thoughts and feelings? Please let me know!


	5. Chapter 4

**Gaia's Children**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or Final Fantasy VII. These belong to J.K. Rowling and Square Enix respectively.

**Harry Potter/Final Fantasy VII Crossover**

**Warnings...** this fanfic contains **SLASH** and unbetadness...

**Pairings:** Cloud/Harry

**Summary:** Harry Potter had won. He had defeated Voldemort and brought peace to the wizarding world. He had also died a martyr. Thousands of years later, a Doctor intent on surpassing Hojo resurrects him. Harry's not happy but soon finds out he was brought back by more than just the whims of a quack scientist...

**Note 1.** **A BIG THANKS AND HUGS TO MY WONDERFUL REVIEWERS: Firehedgehog, vairetwilight, lildevil425, Mariel Nightstalker, insanechildfanfic, PsychoWing, PirateCaptainBo, kirallie, Lord Magis, nxkris, primaaryet, FairyButterfly, Lanari, Estheriana, Sabishii Kage Tenshi, Kai Minomono, Dagger Kitsune, BOOMrobotdog, Saturnblue, Ithilas, Olaf74 and autumm-annette-19. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! :D**

**Note 2.** I've completely skipped over the Wutai part... why? Because seriously... it's perfect the way it is :P And having Harry there might actually take the fun out of it? Lol? (think summoning and levitation charms...) In any case, I've skipped to a much more fun part to tweak ;)

**Note 3.** Er... this chapter actually turned out a bit weird... I have to warn you, this chapter is more a filler/gag chapter than a proper one... got caught up in the date scenario haha... oops...

**Note 4. **Word Count: 2921... Sorry :( don't kill me please?

* * *

**Chapter 4.**

Harry leaned heavily on the railing outside the hotel. He sighed as he stared up into the dark, starry sky, his peripheral vision lit with the bright glow of the busy Golden Saucer attractions. Inside, Cloud had been recounting his tale to those who hadn't joined them at the beginning of their journey. He'd snuck out at the beginning of it; after all, he alone knew what was **really** going on behind the deadly psychopath that Sephiroth had turned into.

He had debated over it for a while now, whether or not to tell them everything, to include them in his plans. Whether or not he should go find Sephiroth and Ginny by himself or take them with him. They had nothing to do with this after all; only unlucky enough to stumble across trouble-magnet that he was and becoming burdened with what was essentially saving the world. And Cloud... especially Cloud, had suffered because of him.

In the end, that had decided it. There was no reason for Cloud, Aeris or any of the others to put their lives in danger, not when he was completely capable of taking care of the problem himself.

Not when it was **his** mess to clean up.

So why hadn't he left yet? Why was he lingering when every second counted? He should have been half way across the continent by now and yet he could not bring himself to leave. Despite everything, he knew he couldn't bring himself to leave Cloud...

It was wrong, he knew. He was putting Cloud in unnecessary danger... and heck, he was several thousand years older than the blonde! But the blonde had wormed his way into Harry's heart and when Harry loved someone, he loved with his whole being and as much as he would try to keep them safe by distancing himself, he would always fail. He could never just leave them behind...

At least, not willingly.

"Harry?"

Harry's head rose from where they were resting on his arms, feeling so tired despite all the rest he'd had. He turned slightly, enough to catch the pink clad visage of his friend and worried light green eyes staring back at him. He said nothing, not trusting himself to speak at the moment, as he returned his gaze to the bright lights, trying to gain some of the happiness that they brought to other people but failed miserably.

A hand softly touched his shoulder, "Harry... if there's anyway I can help-"

"You can't help me," he bit out harshly and immediately regretted his words, "I'm sorry, Aeris... I just-"

Harry looked up, startled, when a hand pressed itself to his mouth, silencing him instantly. He then looked at Aeris as if she were insane when she started to giggle at the look on his face.

"You don't have to explain, Harry," she said, smiling at him, "I understand. I know you know things about what's going on that you're not willing to tell us. And that's okay, because I trust your judgement. I have faith in you."

Harry looked at her in amazement, yet at the same time, he wasn't surprised. Aeris had always seemed to understand him, supporting him ever since their first meeting long ago. Trusting and helping him, a complete stranger. He knew, in part, it had to do with her connection with Gaia but that was only a small portion. This was just the way she was; kind, caring and understanding.

"I wanted to remind you," she continued, "that no one's expecting you to do this alone. You aren't alone, Harry," she cut him off when he tried to argue, "I know you won't listen to me of course," she said with a tinge of amusement mixed with sadness, "Just... don't leave without saying goodbye."

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair, but nodded once.

Aeris beamed up at him, "Great! Now, there's one more thing I had hoped you'd do for me," she looked up at him with teary eyes.

Harry instantly went on alert, recalling all the times she'd conned him into doing something stupid with that look, "What is it?" he asked wearily, though he figured he probably didn't want to know...

And when that teary look morphed into a maniacal grin, he knew he was right.

-

And he was.

_I take back everything I said_, Harry thought to himself with a mental sob, _she's not kind, caring and understanding... She's __**EVIL**__!_

"**Come on, Harry**!" Aeris hissed at him, "Hurry up!"

Harry grumbled but hurried to comply lest someone from their group saw him. Of course, that was exactly when Murphy's Law kicked in, causing him to trip and knock into a hard body as he rounded the corner.

"Are you o-" the person he'd ran into began softly before suddenly fell silent. Harry looked up; it was the man that had joined them at Nibelheim. _Vincent Valentine_, he realised. They stood there awkwardly for moment before Harry started to get annoyed.

"Yes? Is there a problem?" he huffed, ignoring the sudden childish urge to stomp his foot.

"You're..." the ruby-eyed man finally spoke up, "wearing a dress..."

And indeed, Harry was, having been forced into the frilly green dress Aeris had apparently bought **just for him** and that "matched his eyes." It's long sleeves ended in white frills too, covering his hands slightly. His hair now came complete with a black wig, flowing past his shoulders, except for a lock of hair at the side of his head that was tied with a single green ribbon.

How the hell did Aeris keep on convincing him to do things like this?!

"Yes, I am. Do you have a problem with that?" Harry growled, glaring at the taller man as hard as he could.

He felt a tiny bit of self-satisfaction when the man actually leaned back at little but that diminished the moment he remember what the situation was in the first place, "Ah... no, there is no problem..."

"Good," Harry huffed and, with a much dignity as he could muster, he stormed past the slightly cowled man and over to giggling Aeris. "Oh, be quiet," he grumbled at her.

As they neared their destination, he unconsciously frowned when he realised he could hear two voices.

"Cloud..." _That sounded like Tifa._

"What's wrong?" _That was Cloud._

"Well..." A pause, "Actually, I hought about what I was going to say but it's a little embarrassing..."

Another pause.

"Hey, Cloud!" Tifa spoke up again, apparently finding her nerve again, "Why don't the two of us sneak out of here and spend some time alone?"

Harry straightened up immediately at that, and started to glare hatefully at the closed door. Beside him, it took all of Aeris' will power to not crack up at his actions. She wondered if he even knew what he was doing. This was turning out even better than she had planned!

"Come on, let's go!"

"Tifa-"

A loud knocking interrupted him. Breathing a mental sigh of relief at the chance of escape from Tifa without all the awkwardness, he walked over to the door and opened it.

"Who-" Blue eyes widened, "Harry?!" he squeaked, taking in the raven-haired man's newly acquired attire.

Harry ignored as he stomped past the blonde and glowered at the busty brunette, "Get out."

"What-?"

"I said, get out!"

Surprisingly, Tifa complied, but not before giving Harry a nasty glare and Cloud one last look of longing. When the brunette disappeared from sight, Harry turned to look at Cloud. And as the raven-haired man looked at him expectantly, the blonde sweated a little. What was he supposed to do...?

"Ask him," a voice hissed urgently behind him.

Cloud spun around, "Aeris?" he said, thoroughly confused, "Ask him what...?"

The flower girl gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled her eyes, "Ask him on a date of course, silly!"

"Ask him... on a..." The other two could barely hold their snickers as they watched Cloud's face turn an interesting shade of red, "D-d-date... Aeris!" he shouted in embarrassment, wishing the ground would open up and swallow him right about now.

"Yes, a date," Aeris continued unperturbed, "Harry dressed up for you and everything... you're not about to go break his heart, are you?"

_**I**__ dressed up? More like you threatened me with things too horrible to think about..._ Harry thought dryly but decided to let it go, more interested in the flabbergasted yet hopeful expression on Cloud's face. Did the blonde really think his affections weren't returned? A little teasing may be in order...

"What's wrong, Cloud?" Harry said as he directed the blonde's attention back to himself, "Do I..." he fiddled slightly with his dress before looking up at Cloud with the same teary look Aeris had turned on him just minutes ago, "not look nice?"

Yes, the expression on Cloud's face was very amusing indeed. "N-no- that's not-"

"Cloud, how could you!" Aeris mock admonished. _**Someone's**__ having too much fun with this_, Harry thought wryly.

"I didn't mean that!" Cloud half-screamed at Aeris, "I'm just... a little surprised. You look very nice Harry. It's just..." then he looked at Harry very seriously, "You're beautiful without all this. If not more so..." he then looked quite horrified as if he just realised what he had said. But that look disappeared, becoming an embarrassed but happy one when Harry smiled adoringly up at him.

"Aww..." Aeris cooed, breaking the two out of their moment. Cloud face heated up again as he stared at the floor while Harry rolled his eyes at her.

Cloud cleared his throat nervously, "Harry, will you..." he squeaked so he coughed loudly to cover his embarrassment, "Will you..." thankfully, this time his voice came out normal, "...go on a date with me?"

Harry's smile broadened as he nodded. Cloud smiled back at him in response and the two stood there again, smiling stupidly at each other.

Aeris groaned, as cute as the two were... "Idiots... get going!" she ordered.

Cloud grinned at her reaching forward to clasp Harry's hand tightly in his own and pulling him out the door while Harry laughed, "Yes, mum," he said.

-

"Congratulations!" the man shouted as soon as they stepped into Event Square, "You're our 100th couple today! You two will be the leads in tonight's show!" And before they could even begin to argue, the two were dragged away backstage to be dressed up. Which was how, minutes later, Cloud found himself on stage, in front of hundreds of people wearing "ye olde" clothes and carrying an exceedingly gaudy plastic "Hero's" sword.

"Long, long ago...," some guy Cloud assumed was the narrator spoke, "An evil shadow appeared over the peaceful kingdom of Galdia! Princess Rosa had been kidnapped by the Evil Dragon Lord, Valdemort. What will become of her? It was then the legendary Hero, Alfred, appeared!" he said, motioning with an over exaggerated flourish in Cloud's direction.

The blonde gave him a blank expression; he was already here to begin with...

"You must be the legendary Hero... Alfred!" the some guy in a knight's armour shouted.

Cloud decided it was probably best if he didn't answer that. It was already embarrassing enough as it was.

"Hey, it's your line," the knight whispered to him but he ignored him, pretending to be very interested in the background setting that looked like it had been painted by a five year old.

The knight coughed, looking a little put out at being ignored, "Well, anyway... You must be the legendary Hero Alfred! Please... Please save Princess Rosa! Now... Please talk to the King!"

A rather rotund man in equally gaudy clothes twirled onto the stage, "Oh, legendary Hero Alfred. You have come to save my beloved? Who, on the peak of a dangerous mountain, is being held captive by the Evil Dragon Lord Valdemort! But you can't defeat him as you are now... you must talk to the one who can help you!"

Before Cloud could respond (not that he really wanted to), another man twirled on stage, this one wearing a blue robe and wizard's hat, both covered in white stars, moons and, for some reason, cows, "I am the great wizard, Wumblemore! What do you wish to know?"

Cloud sighed but decided to cooperate if only to get this over and done with, "The Evil Dragon Lord's weakness."

"Ah, the weakness of the Evil Dragon Lord," Wumblemore said, running a hand down his long, fake, white beard, "It must be... Yes! True Love! The power of love is the only weapon that can withstand the sharp fangs of the Evil Dragon Lord!"

"Ooooh, what will happen next?" the narrator spoke again, "OH! Look, legendary Hero!"

Cloud turned to see a very disgruntled looking Harry being held captive by what looked like an large stuffed dragon. Harry looked exactly as Aeris had dressed him except for the tiara perched on top of his head.

"RAWR! I am the Evil Dragon Lord Valdemort! I have not harmed the Princess... for I have been expecting you! GAHAHAH!"

"Oh, save me," Harry deadpanned, "Save me, legendary Hero." Cloud could barely keep in his laughter at the look on his face.

"RAWR!" the stupid dragon shouted again, "Here I come, legendary Hero!"

"And now, legendary Hero, this is what will happen...!" the wizard cut in from behind him, "The power of True Love... brought forth by a kiss!"

_Wait... what?! A kiss?!_

Cloud turned to look at Harry, face reddening already, when a hand grab him by the shirt and pulled him down. Lips pressed to his and all thoughts flew from his mind. (A.N. And if I really wanted to be lame, I would say that he felt like he'd died and gone to heaven... but I won't... even though I kinda already did... Anyway, I have no experience with writing kiss scenes... anyone want to write one for me in their review or something and I'll post it with an acknowledgement and everything? :D Or should I just copy and paste from someone else's fic and just change the names? Haha... o.O)

Minutes later, the knight coughed in embarrassment, "Erm... I think that's enough love... the Dragon's quite dead..."

Cloud and Harry blinked as they finally pulled away from each. The latter glowered at the knight slightly for interrupting them while the former started to redden again. Did he really just share his first kiss with Harry? In front of hundreds of people, no less?

"Anyway, Love has triumphed!" the narrator shouted, looking strangely gleeful, "Let's celebrate!"

"Yay!"

-

Cloud was practically glowing as they left the privacy of the Golden Saucer's Gondola ride, hand in hand. Harry smiled at him in amusement. His smile turned contemplative as they arrived in the main hall, "Is that Cait Sith?"

"Yeh... Hey! Is that the keystone?!"

The large stuffed cat turned to look at them, startled, before throwing himself down the closest portal. Cloud and Harry immediately tore after him, realising something was wrong with the situation. Eventually, they managed to corner him outside Chocobo Square but before they could make a grab for the keystone, a loud whirling noise and large gust of wind blew up from behind Cait Sith. He turned around, throwing the keystone as a Shinra Helicopter rose up, Tseng catching it easily as it flew towards him.

"Well done," he said, with a nod before motioning to the pilot to leave.

Harry thoughts ran wild; he couldn't let them take the keystone... He needed it to find Ginny! **He needed it to save Neville**! And so he did the only thing he could think of... he ran forward and vaulted himself over the handrail.

"Harry!"

With a little magic, he just barely made, clinging onto the landing skid with one hand as the helicopter rocked slightly from his sudden added weight. Tseng looked down at him in shock that someone would risk plummeting to their death for a small stone.

Cloud stepped forward, intending to follow him but he was blocked off by Cait Sith who finally shook himself of his surprise, "Wait! I won't let you follow him! And you won't when you hear this..." he pulled out a PHS.

"Daddy? Tifa?" a small voice spoke up, scared.

"Marlene?!"

Cloud had no choice but to watch Harry disappear once more. But this time... he knew exactly where to go to find him.

-

"What do you think you're doing, girl?!" Tseng shouted at him over the helicopter noise, looking quite flustered. If the situation wasn't so dire, Harry would have laughed at the look on the normally quite calm and stoic man's face. Instead, he concentrated on not dying as he raised himself up onto bar and reached for the cabin.

Tseng made no move to stop him though neither was he going to help him as indecision crossed his face. Small miracle as it was, it seemed his cross-dressing had actually come in handy as the Turk couldn't bring himself to step on the hand of a "defenceless girl" and end "her" life.

Eventually, he gave in and reached down to help Harry into the helicopter

"Thanks," Harry said softly... before throwing himself at the Turk.

Tseng grunted in surprise and it was then (unfortunately) that Harry found out Tseng and the pilot weren't the only ones in the helicopter when something hit him in the back of the head and he blacked out.

* * *

**final note.** Well, there you have it! Hope it was up to your expectations :) Though I should probably stop taking Harry away from Cloud... Why the hell do I keep on doing that? I don't know why but it just keeps on happening... D: Anyway, as usual, tell me what you think :) (Sorry it was so short, seemed right to stop there...)

EXTRA – What would have happened if I wrote the Wutai section...

Yuffie: Haha, I have your-

Harry: _Accio_ Materia! -wooshing noises as glowing balls fly out of Yuffie's pockets and towards Harry-

Yuffie: ...Materia? ...Damn it...


End file.
